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| Who Is Selling Who? |
Most of the people I have met in my life are afraid to meet strangers. They avoid strangers like they avoid a disease. Most people walk around strangers. We have developed this cultural understanding that strangers are dangerous. Stranger danger. It is what we teach our little children. They grow up thinking that every stranger is a qualified dangerous person. Only a small, tiny percent are dangerous. The rest of the world is very normal. Unfortunately, our children do not know that. They are taught differently.
I have been in the position of sales management in my career, a lot. It is amazing how many people in the field of sales do not understand how it actually works. Most of the sales people in this world do their job by pure instinct, freelanced by habit of conversation. It is what they do best...talk.
I once remember a little lady who came into my furniture store many years ago with her teenage son. She was searching to buy a new sleeper sofa. He son was bored to death with the experience. She apparently had him tag along while she tried to find the perfect piece. He was not especially buzzed up about this kind of shopping task.
While she was checking out the sleeper sofas in my showroom, she suddenly stopped the process and turned to look at me and said, "You sound like a car salesman." It became quiet for a brief moment. I noticed how shocked her son was by the stunned look on his face. This was not some typical comment his Mom normally made. It was written all over his face. It was also apparent that he was embarrassed for her. The body language was evident.
I remained calm, having heard these kinds of comments before in my long selling career. After a moment of silence that began to feel like very heavy air...I decided to break the thick ice that was building. I quietly and slowly responded by saying, "I know. That is because I am a furniture salesman. That is what I do for a living that helps me to provide food and shelter for my wife and three children." I continued, "If I sound like a car salesman I apologize. Forgive me. I try not to allow what I do for a living to get in the way of helping my family live a decent life and if I have in some way failed to gain your respect than I have not done my family very much justice. Please forgive me." I turned and walked away, saying, "I will let you two check out the rest of my showroom and if you have any questions please feel free to ask me. I still would be delighted to help you solve your selection problem."
As I was walking away, I heard nothing but silence. All of us are salespeople. Including that rude lady. She was trying to sell me that I was a "sound-alike" car salesman. That was her pitch. She spelled it out to make her point. She was trying to convince me that I was too insensitive and pushy. She wanted me to hear how she felt. She worked to sell that perspective to me. It had nothing to do with the color of the fabrics she was looking to find. She became the worst salesperson at that moment. In the world of selling, she failed.
Now, for the rest of the story. She left without purchasing any products from my store. I thought I would never see her again. Then about two hours later, there she was. She was all by herself. She came straight back to my desk behind the sales counter. She said, "I came back to apologize to you. I was rude and insensitive. When we left your store my son got all over my case about how rude I was to you. My son has never said anything to me like the kinds of things he said I was. It was a shock to me. We had a slight argument and he won. My penalty from him was for me to come back in here and apologize to you. That is what I am doing. I owe you an apology."
You see, everyone is a salesman. Her son sold her on this idea. He won. He closed the deal to get her to go back and apologize. She bought his argument.
This was my response..."Thank you. However, I forgave you the moment you said what you said. I figured you were feeling a bit stressed out about buying this piece of furniture and you had reached your limit. I just happened to be standing in that place when that stress hit its limit. You were forgiven a long time ago. However, I would like to see your son come back here and apply for a job when he graduates from high school. He has some heart and a lot of talent. I know I may never see him again, but tell him thanks for me and to keep up the good work." She puffed up and left the store with a very surprised look on her face.
The score that day...Son (3), Salesman (2) and Mom (0).
Selling, we all do it. Sometimes it is an art, and sometimes it is a science.
Page two.
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| Sell Clean, Close The Deal Properly! |
It is also true that not everyone is good at selling. Some people struggle with it very much. Some people are too afraid of criticism. Some people are too afraid of strangers. Some people are too afraid of rejection. Whatever the case, some people do not handle the selling part of life very well.
Selling is a two-sided deal. One one hand it is an art. On the other hand it is a science. Most of the time selling is processed on one side of that fence more than on the other. Sometimes the person trying to convince, or sell, another person to do something they do not want to do requires using the art of communication. They lean completely upon the art of their own social skills. This method can work wonders if you paint good social skills. However, if you were taught to avoid strangers because they cannot be trusted, you may struggle with this kind of artful selling for a profession. This kind of art needs your complete support and full trust. Rejection and resistance cannot be on the table of thought in order to sell well with an artful approach.
On the other side of this selling process is the fundamental science of selling. Performing the proven steps to good selling techniques can help the seller become more successful with the effort to convince others to buy what they are trying to sell. The science works well when it is applied properly. Many people cannot easily describe what those selling techniques truly are. There are many salespeople in the profession that cannot describe what the true techniques of good selling really are. They would fail a test on describing what those techniques may be. I have seen salespeople with terrible people skills sell the most goods because they follow the proper steps so well that they close more sales than anyone else. I have watched this happen plenty of times in my life to know that there is a science to selling that works just fine.
Selling is both an art as well as it is a science. If you are a small business leader, you need to determine where your selling style remains. If it needs some work, get busy on studying how that improvement can happen. Start working to improve your selling techniques. Take the initiative and go find out what those techniques are. There is a ton of literature written out there in this world that is easy to gather up and free to acquire. Go get it and begin working on yourself to improve your selling techniques. If you are waiting for your natural skills to catch up and become better all by themselves, you will wait forever for that to happen. Become actively involved with improving your selling techniques. The science is real and it works just fine. However, it will not come naturally. Get over that belief. You will only be kidding yourself forever.
Sometimes the truth hurts. When it comes to selling techniques, the truth hurts. Selling is as much a science as it is an art. We rely upon our natural skills in the art part of the selling world. However, we need to rely upon our 'student' abilities to gain better skills on how to sell well if we plan to improve in this area of our business leadership. The science of selling is not something that comes naturally. It is a learned skill.
Selling is both an art as well as it is a science. We know this to be true. Now...what are you planning to do with this truth?
Until next time...
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